Climate hazards are turning 218 diseases into bigger threats
New research found that more than half of infectious diseases known to impact humans were aggravated by climate hazards like floods and heat.
Professor Camilo Mora feels the impacts of climate change in his knees.
During a 2014 visit to his native Colombia, heavy rains caused the worst flooding his hometown had seen in decades and boosted the mosquito population. A mosquito bit Mora, transferring the chikungunya virus and making him a patient during an unprecedented outbreak in the region.
His joints ache still today. He blames a warming world.
In a study published Monday, Mora and his colleagues at the University of Hawaii canvassed tens of thousands of studies to analyze the global impacts of climate change on infectious diseases that affect humans. They determined that nearly 220 infectious diseases — 58% of the total studied — had become bigger threats because of climate hazards.
“Systems have been evolving for millions of years and now humans have come along and changed things,” Mora said. “We are punching nature, but nature is punching us back.”
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